Month: March 2018

Legislative solution offered for collecting lost sales tax

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Opinion column

by Murrel Bland

Mike Smallwood has a simple solution for the loss of local sales tax caused by the internet — charge all sales tax at the point of origin.

Smallwood is quite knowledgeable about the issue. He is the owner of Smallwood Lock and Supply and serves as the Legislative Committee chairman of the Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce.

Smallwood has testified before Kansas legislative committees in Topeka, noting that he owns a 106-year-old, fourth-generation Wyandotte County company that does business all across the country. He opposes House Bill 2756, which is based on a destination model. Smallwood said there are more than 12,000 sales taxing districts across the United States. He said it is impractical to keep track of all the sales tax rates of these many jurisdictions.

Smallwood said his first recommendation is to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the South Dakota versus Wayfair case, expected in June this year.

Smallwood said that destination sales tax is anti-small business as pointed out in a letter to Joe Eannello, the policy director for U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Third Dist. Smallwood said large companies, such as Walmart, already collect and remit sales tax in every state in the union.

U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has introduced a bill entitled “The Online Sales Simplification Act.” Although Smallwood is not entirely comfortable with this proposed legislation because it is not a “pure origin” model, it is the best solution compared to destination proposals. This proposal would have a single tax rate for each state; taxes would be remitted by the vendor’s home state.

The Legislative Committee also heard a report on racetrack gaming. Proposed legislation favoring the race tracks is in the State and Federal Affairs Committee of the Kansas House of Representatives. Pari-mutuel track operators want to keep about 60 percent of the revenue instead of the present 25 percent.

Phil Ruffin, a former resident of Wichita who now lives in Las Vegas, owns the three pari-mutuel tracks in Kansas including The Woodlands. Ruffin, who also owns the Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas, is a business partner with Donald Trump in a Trump Tower.

Kansas casino operators point out that changes in the rules for the division of revenue for race tracks would be a breach of contract with the state. When this issue came up in 2016, Jeff Boerger, president of Kansas Speedway Development Corp., said that the Hollywood Casino was required to pay a $25 million “privilege fee” and to make a minimum $225 million investment. In addition, the casino was required to make about $4 million in charitable donations.

There was also discussion during the Legislative Committee meeting about the prospect of sports betting. A U.S. Supreme Court case that could open such wagering in Kansas and other states is also expected in June. The American Gaming Association estimates that $150 billion in sports betting goes unregulated and therefore remits no taxes. Casinos and race tracks could become sites for legal sports betting.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.

Gin Blossoms to perform pre-race concert May 12 at Kansas Speedway

Multi-platinum recording artists Gin Blossoms will perform the pre-race concert on Saturday night, May 12, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Grammy-nominated band, whose hits include “Til I Hear It From You,” “Follow You Down,” and “As Long As It Matters,” were back in the recording studio last year recording a new album.

The band has been touring nationally, with many of their recent dates celebrating the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough album, “New Miserable Experience.”

When the album made its debut in 1992, it kept the band on the charts for almost three years with singles “Hey Jealousy,” “Allison Road,” “Until I Fall Away,” “Mrs. Rita,” and “Found Out About You.” The crossover hits played on four radio formats and have sold over 5 million records to date. “Hey Jealousy” is still one of Gin Blossom’s most streamed songs.

“Til I Hear It From You” was a smash hit for Gin Blossoms and it appeared on the platinum sound track for the film “Empire Records.”

Other notable soundtracks and compilations include “Wayne’s World 2: Music From The Motion Picture,” “Speed: Songs From And Inspired By The Motion Picture,” “To the Extreme: America’s Fast Track To Rock,” “How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days: Music From The Motion Picture,” “Big Star Small World,” and “To Do List.”

The band’s fourth album, “Major Lodge Victory,” scored a smash single in “Learning The Hard Way,” and the second single, “Long Time Gone” became a fan favorite.

“Major Lodge Victory” made Billboard’s Top 10 Independent Albums list. Next, Gin Blossoms recorded “No Chocolate Cake” and released the single “Miss Disarray,” which is one of the most requested songs in the band’s live set and the album reached No. 1 on Amazon’s sales chart and was No. 14 on Billboards Independent chart, along with hitting Billboards Top 200 at No. 73.

Over the years, the Gin Blossoms have toured over 25 different countries, including a five-city tour of Iraq in 2010 to entertain the troops stationed there.

To purchase tickets, fans can call 866-460-7223, log onto www.kansasspeedway.com or stop by the Kansas Speedway Ticket Office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Kansas Speedway, a premier motorsports facility in the Midwest, holds two NASCAR race weekends a year, in addition to holding approximately 200 other events throughout the year.

Kansas Speedway’s first race weekend of the season is May 11-12 with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series under the lights. In the fall, the NASCAR playoffs return Oct. 20-21 with the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Also in the fall is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards series finale. To purchase season or single-day tickets, call 866-460-RACE (7223) or log onto www.kansaspeedway.com.

General parking is free at Kansas Speedway and fans can bring in one 14x14x14-inch soft-sided cooler with their favorite food and beverages.

Fans can follow Kansas Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kansasspeedway, Twitter (@kansasspeedway), Instagram (kansasspeedway) and Snapchat (kansasspeedway).

T-Bones sign former Yankees farmhand

The Kansas City T-Bones have signed right-handed pitcher Travis Hissong for the 2018 season.

Travis Hissong comes to Kansas City after spending last season with both the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Brewers organizations.

At AA Trenton in the Eastern League, Hissong appeared in 11 games. all in relief, working 15.1 innings with a 5.87 ERA. He struck out 21 while going 1-1 with one save.

He was sent down to Tampa in the Florida State League on May 22 and posted a 1-0 record with three saves in seven relief outings. The right-hander tossed 11.1 innings with 13 strike outs with a 3.97 ERA before being released on June 20.

Milwaukee signed Hissong on June 24 and assigned him to AA Biloxi of the Southern League. At Biloxi, Hissong worked 35 innings in 16 games, including one start, going 0-1 and finished the season with 34 strike outs. He elected free agency following the 2017.

Hissong, a native of Bellville, Ohio, was originally signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 2014 out of Wright State University. In four seasons he made the climb to AA, beginning his career in 2014 with the Staten Island Yankees.

Hissong made three stops in the Yankees’ system during his rookie campaign, combining for a 3.80 ERA in 21.1 innings with Staten Island, Gulf Coast and Tampa. In 2015, Hissong spent the entire season at Staten Island and then had a busy 2016 with three clubs in the Yankees organization. He went 6-1 in 72 innings combined with a 1.88 ERA.

In his career, Hissong is 10-5 with a 2.98 ERA and 11 saves in 178.1 innings with 205 strike outs at a professional. While at Wright State, the Ohio native was 8-6 with five saves in 106.2 career innings, posting a 4.51 ERA in four season for the Raiders.

Season, groups, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting the Box Office at T-Bones stadium, calling 913-328-5618 or purchase and print at www.tbonesbaseball.com. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Home opening night is May 22 when the T-Bones host Gary SouthShore at T-Bones Stadium at 7:05 p.m.